Getting PhD to be more tough

Chennai: Getting a PhD from this year might not be as easy as in the past as the University Grants Commission (UGC) has come up with a stricter regulation than the one released in 2009.

In the past, a person who pursued Ph.D. had to publish one research paper in a national or international journal but the revised UGC Regulations makes it mandatory for research scholars to publish two research papers in international journals. The 2014 guidelines also contemplate to use Ph.D. for promotion and increment for faculty.

At present, universities follow UGC Regulations 2009 guidelines and admissions to M.Phil and Ph.D. programmes are based on entrance test.

Asked about the guidelines, UGC vice-chairman Prof H. Devaraj said the commission at its meeting held on July 22 constituted a committee under his chairmanship with Dr V.S. Chauhan and Dr M.M. Ansari as members to examine the draft guidelines and submit its recommendations for consideration of the commission.

However, the faculty have raised their concern against the new guidelines. Prof C. Pichandy, vice-president of Association of University Teachers, lamented that it would be difficult for research scholars to publish two research papers in international journals as they had to pay fees ranging from $150 (Rs 9,130) to $300 (Rs 18,260) per paper.

“There are many poor students who pursue Ph.D. How can you expect him to spend Rs 35,000 to publish his research paper in international journals?” he questioned.